One reason not to use PayPass...

Just searched my wallet and my room for a non-expired credit card without PayPass. And I found one, a nice shiny silver one, which will be good for another two years. This is important, and you'll see why in a moment.

* * *

So I'm at the SuperStore, and I'm picking a register. One cashier catches my eye, so I go to her lineup. Now, you have to be extremely careful about this. If it's obvious that you're singling her out because she's attractive, you're pretty much dead in the water. I had a comeback ready if her body language indicated that she was offended by this: "Hey, don't flatter yourself, you just had the shortest line." Fortunately, it was not needed!

She smelled very nice, she smiled, she even had a hungry look in her eyes. The indications were enough to try something. So I put my part of the grocery order through and I figured I'd surreptitiously write my number down on the merchant's copy of the credit card receipt. Hey, no harm in trying, right?

But lo and behold, I handed her my card, she noticed it had PayPass, and she moved it over the beeper. No signature required. The transaction and the opportunity had passed.

I laughed about it to myself, and determined that I'll try again next week... this time, with a card that doesn't have PayPass. ;-) I could also request cash back on a debit transaction, but that would create too much confusion, and besides I don't want to be opening my wallet in front of her - unless it's filled with $100 bills, she might as well not see it at all, and I don't have the money to be attracting people with the "I'll buy you things" shtick anyway. To twist a phrase used by a relative, "I'm the play guy, not the treat guy."

The game continues! By the way, everyone, I hate weekends. Why? Because there's no bloody bus service and I'm basically sequestered here the whole time as a result. I can't use my stepfather's wheelchair van for generic hanging out, and I don't want to use my mother's truck at all because she leaves her horse junk in it all the time and it smells like the inside of a stable. What a waste of a new truck - god, it would be a total babe magnet!! I'll just have to do the best I can with what I've got until I can find something better. Maybe I can segue a potential chemistry co-op into full time work before I actually get a B.Sc, and then just do the rest of the degree more slowly - I really can't stay here for very much longer.